Friday, December 07, 2007

Cougar Cub Placed at Lions, Tigers and Bears

A young mountain lion captured in Redlands last week was transferred Monday to a big cat rescue facility based in El Cajon. The animal is expected to live out the remainder of its life in captivity.

The approximately 6-month-old female mountain lion was one of two found perched in a backyard tree in east Redlands on Thursday morning near Crafton Elementary School.

Redlands police were called to the home in the 100 block of Crafton Court shortly before 7 a.m. by the homeowner who spotted the big cats in their tree.

The backyard looks across the Zanja to CraftonElementary School, which was locked down as a precaution after the mountain lions were spotted.

Redlands police and Animal Control officers maintained a perimeter around the mountain lions to ensure they didn't present a threat and waited for state Fish and Game officers to arrive.

At one point, after about 30 minutes, both cats climbed down from the tree and headed east along the Zanja. One of the animals escaped into the county area near RedlandsEastValleyHigh School, which was also put on lockdown as a precaution.

The other cat climbed another nearby pepper tree where it perched on a branch, quietly observing the increasing activity around it as police, animal control and Fish and Game officers were joined by curious neighbors and journalists.

Eventually, Animal Control and Fish and Game officers were able to tranquilize the cat, which was tagged and taken to the Redlands Animal Shelter.

The female mountain lion, estimated to be about 6 months old and weighing 50 to 60 pounds, was held at the shelter through the weekend.

On Monday, Fish and Game officials transferred the animal to Lions, Tigers and Bears, a nonprofit big cat rescue facility based in El Cajon. The animal will remain there temporarily until a permanent home can be found.

Fish and Game officials say that while the mountain lion is healthy, it is too young to be safely released into the wild and hasn't even developed its adult teeth. Typically, mountain lion cubs remain with their mothers until they are about 18 months old, said Kevin Brennan, a wildlife biologist with the Department of Fish and Game.

Being raised in captivity, the animal will not be releasable into the wild even once it reaches adulthood, said Brennan.

The second mountain lion, believed to be another young cat, was sighted later Thursday evening near the intersection of Independence and Wabash avenues.

Redlands Police and Fish and Game officials attempted to capture the animal, but it escaped into the nearby orange groves after being shot with a tranquilizer and could not be located.

There have been several confirmed mountain lion sightings in Redlands since May 2001.

Of the hundreds of mountain lion sightings reported statewide annually, fewer than 3 percent are considered safety threats.

According to the Department of Fish and Game, mountain lion attacks on humans are rare. There have been only 15 verified mountain lion attacks on humans in California since 1890, six of them fatal. The last documented attack occurred in June 2004 in Tulare County.

While there have been several sightings in Redlands over the past six years, there have been no reports of mountain lion attacks on humans in San Bernardino County.

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More information is available at the Department of Fish and Game's website at www.dfg.ca.gov <http://www.dfg.ca.gov/> or by calling (909) 484-0167.

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